Greek stocks fall as debt deal talks stall

GREECE’S stock market has fallen by more than 4% after European finance ministers failed to reach a new deal to restructure the country’s debts.

Greek bank shares fell almost 9%, while the government’s borrowing costs rose, with the yield on a 10-year sovereign bond rising 82 basis points to 10.74%.

On Monday night, Greece rejected a plan to extend its €240bn (£178bn) bailout.

Greek Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis called the EU deal “absurd” and “unacceptable”.

But Mr Varoufakis declared he was ready to do “whatever it takes” to reach agreement over Greece’s bailout, despite the collapse of the talks.

And he said he was prepared to agree a deal under different conditions.

Stock exchanges across Europe were lower in morning trading, with Germany’s main index, the Dax, down nearly 1.4% and France’s blue chip index, the Cac-40, down 1.23%.

In the UK, which has less exposure to Greece’s debt woes, the FTSE 100 Index was lower by 0.33%.

Deadline

Dutch Finance Minister Jeroen Dijsselbloem, who is also chairing the Eurogroup meetings of eurozone finance ministers, warned on Monday night there were just days left for talks.

Mr Dijsselbloem said it was now “up to Greece” to decide if it wanted more funding or not.

Ahead of Tuesday’s meeting, he said: “I hope they [Greece] will ask for an extension to the programme, and once they do that, we can allow flexibility, they can put in their political priorities.

“Of course, we will see whether their programme remains on track. But that is the way forward. It’s really up to the Greeks. We cannot make them or ask them. It really it really is up to them. We stand ready to work with them, also [over] the next couple of days.”

Greece’s current bailout expires on 28 February. Any new agreement would need to be approved by national governments, so time is running out to reach a compromise.

Without a deal, Greece is likely to run out of money.